With a brutal cold front set to hit much of southern China over the weekend, residents are rushing to stock up on the essentials so that they’ll be able to hunker down at home over the next few days, causing some serious headaches for local officials.Pictures from supermarkets across the country have popped up on the internet, showing big crowds and bare shelves, and the same is true for our fair city. In the lead up to the snowmageddon, the price of pork has surged from 14 yuan per 600 grams to 19 yuan, while the prices of vegetables have tripled from 5 yuan per 500 grams to 15 yuan.The local government has called on residents to just chill out and stop hoarding, but to little avail with the coming days predicted to be the coldest winter in 35 years with the temperature in Shanghai’s urban areas expected to drop to minus 7 while it could get as low as minus 10 in suburban areas.The National Meteorological Center predicts that temperatures will soon plummet by as much as 13 degrees across the country. Even Hainan isn’t escaping this cold wave with temperatures expected to go down to a comfy 13 degrees.Already, the cold weather is causing some problems in Shanghai where two water pipes have burst and dozens of long-distance buses have been canceled.Shanghai residents are reminded to store some water in buckets and wrap up outside water pipes with cloth.Stay warm, everyone![Images via NetEase]